New state law will bring road work, higher costs

Drivers in Bucks County will pay more to help fund transportation projects, though it could be years before construction starts on major arteries and infrastructure.

The recently passed state transportation bill holds the promise of $321 million for roads, bridges and mass transit in early 2014. As much as $2.4 billion could be raised annually as Harrisburg lifts the cap on wholesale gas taxes and raises fees on vehicles and drivers.

Roughly two-thirds of that new cash will go toward road and bridge work. Another $600 million annually could go for mass transit, pedestrian walkways and bike paths, lawmakers said.

At the newspaper’s request, PennDOT officials released its tentative list of projects that could be funded locally under the new transportation law.

The Excel spreadsheet PennDOT provided listed more than 120 projects valued at more than $400 million. In addition to new roadways, the project list includes 57 bridge repair jobs or replacements, 45 transportation studies and a $947,650 bike and pedestrian education initiative in Yardley.

Gene Blaum, PennDOT’s assistant press secretary, noted that about 28 percent of state roads in Bucks County are in poor condition. In neighboring Montgomery County, it’s 33 percent. In Philadelphia, it’s 50 percent, Blaum said.

A top priority for the state will be the replacement or repair for more than 6,000 structurally deficient bridges. “The additional transportation revenues will also help PennDOT and local governments address poor pavement conditions and other critical transportation needs,” Blaum said.

Two PennDOT projects will start locally in 2014.

As early as January, PennDOT said it could begin work on a $49.4-million makeover for sections of York Road (PA Route 263) through Buckingham, Doylestown Township, Warminster and Warwick. The project area is to span 7.9 miles.

Work could also begin this year on a busy bridge over the Neshaminy Creek in Lower Bucks. Replacing the West Maple Avenue Bridge, which connects Lower Southampton and Middletown, is expected to cost the taxpayers $7.75 million.

Bigger and more expensive projects are years away.

The largest among them is a mammoth $215 million makeover of the U.S. Route 1 Superhighway as it passes through Bensalem and Middletown, with its 11 bridges and four retaining walls. PennDOT officials said three construction contracts would be awarded for construction in 2015, 2017 and 2018.

Another major project — the $22.7- million makeover of Interstate 95 — could cover a distance of more than 30 miles, from the Philadelphia city line to the Scudder Falls Bridge in Lower Makefield. However, officials said it would be more than two years before any work starts.

Bristol Township’s Croydon section could see major construction along State Road in mid-2016, according to PennDOT. A $27 million project would improve stormwater drainage from Route 413 to the Neshaminy Creek.

Planning even further ahead, PennDOT forecasts work will begin sometime in 2018 on River Road (Route 32) in Solebury. A $2 million project would replace the River Road Bridge over the Cuttalossa Creek.

And, in 2019, PennDOT estimates it could begin work on the Route 313 corridor through Hilltown, New Britain and Plumstead. That project is slated to cost $22 million, with improvements to various intersections from Ferry Road to Broad Street.

It’s unclear exactly what will happen to gas prices as these projects move forward, though AAA MidAtlantic says rumors abound — including one that says taxes make up most of the cost of gas.

In Pennsylvania, each gallon is taxed 50.7 cents. So if you pay $3.50 per gallon, then about one-seventh of that cost is going to the government, according to AAA MidAtlantic spokeswoman Jenny M. Robinson.

And, regardless of the taxes, fuel prices can change dramatically through the year, she noted. This year, for example, the average price peaked at $3.80 per gallon Feb. 26 and bottomed out at $3.29 Nov. 11, according to AAA data.

“Remember that both crude oil and basic refined gasoline are each subject to constantly changing market pricing due to ongoing trading on world commodity markets and their prices are affected by a host of factors (such as war, weather, international incidents, refinery outages and seasonal demand),” Robinson explained.

“We don’t know yet whether, or how much of the tax, wholesalers will decide to pass along to consumers,” Robinson added.

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